The Final Countdown

This is my last week at my job.  Tomorrow, in fact, will be the last day that I have to set foot into this miserable, stressful, soul-sucking vortex of stupidity.  Monday, I start at my new job.  It’s a place where people smile at you when you walk in the front door!  A place where they have a vending machine with Lean Cuisines in it!  A place that is equidistant from a Starbucks and an awesome Thai restaurant (less than 5 minutes either way, BAM)!  A place where people seemingly wear jeans whenever they want!

But I’m not going to look at the 8 months I’ve spent here as a waste.  My old supervisor from this job – the one who hired me, the one that I really liked, the one who retired and tragically left a void that was filled by a pompous oblivious ass – took me out to lunch today, and I realized a few things.

1. No time is wasted when you’ve met even one worthwhile person.  Here, I’ve met a group of wonderful men and women who I’ve laughed and joked with, and who I hope I will continue to meet for lunches and happy hours in the future.
2. No time is wasted when you’ve made a positive impact in another person’s life.  How many times a day does someone thank me for what I do here?  Some days, zero times.  Others, I have grateful coworkers, students, advisors, and faculty members singing my praises all throughout my workday.  Today, one woman tearfully thanked me because my assistance gave her the opportunity to walk across the stage at the spring commencement ceremony in front of her sons.  The miserable days would all be worth it to make one person’s life better;  I’ve managed to do that once just today.  That’s a pretty good rate of return in my book.
3. Every learning experience, be it simple and enjoyable or incredibly challenging, makes you a better, wiser, stronger person.  After this, I am totally all of those things.  Also, I have significantly lowered standards for a tolerable workplace, which will no doubt make my new job seem even better than it really is.
4. Going through something difficult helps you to recognize when you’re being taken advantage of, and it gives you the strength to stand up for yourself and others.  I got screwed here.  But I didn’t sit back and take it.  I looked at my options, I did my best to resolve things, and when it didn’t work, I peaced out.  And now I’m better for it.  Leaving also gave me a chance to warn Human Resources of how poorly some of my coworkers have been treated.  If something good comes out of that, then my leaving was pretty awesome.
5. Quitting a job without taking any of your accrued vacation time means you get a sweet payout when you quit.  Well, vacation time, I would have loved to use you to spend time on a beach or sleeping until noon, but now you get to help me buy a new car!

Hi, little friend! Come live with me and make all my months of suffering seem worthwhile!

Ugh, three positive blog posts in a row?!  GROSS, who am I?!  I promise, I’ll do my best to be cranky again soon.